


Time (travel) is all it takes

by DoomBum



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Android Saga, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cell Games Saga, F/M, Future Trunks Briefs Timeline, Happy Ending, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Loss of Limbs, Major Character Injury, Prosthesis, Vegeta Lives, Vegeta is Bad at Feelings (Dragon Ball)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-23 17:46:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30059199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomBum/pseuds/DoomBum
Summary: 17 and 18 came and went, destroying everything on their wake, thinking they had erased all of these stupid fighters. But it turns out Saiyans are more resistant than they had thought.They didn’t know it yet, but they had made an horrendous mistake, one that would lead them to their doom sooner or later.Or : What if Vegeta had survived the androids ?
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Son Gohan & Vegeta, Trunks Briefs & Vegeta, Videl Satan/Son Gohan
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> After the androids attack, Gohan is left alone to contemplate the damage.

Gohan doesn’t know how long he stays under the ruins, silent and motionless, waiting for the horrific duo to finally leave the area.

When he finally stops hearing their disturbing laughter echoing through the deserted streets, a sound he is sure is going to stay incrusted in his brain for a very long time, he carefully gets up, trying to not move his broken arm too much as he extracts himself from the pieces of wall that had fell on him a while ago. He coughs at the dust surrounding him, and almost gags at the putrid, bloody smell filling his nose. He quickly scans the area, but to his horrible dismay, can’t find Piccolo or any of their friends. He straightens up, wincing as his arm moves too quickly, and he starts walking down the streets, to where he last heard the big fight happening, trying to ignore the dozens of corpses he passes by. 

When he finally arrives at the scene, all he can see is a gigantic crater he already knows what he'll find in. He approaches the outline of it, feeling his eyes water as he spots his and his father’s friends lying before it, some of them missing several members. Yamcha, Tien Shin Han, Chiaotzu, Krillin. He stops walking for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, not allowing himself to break just yet. 

Slowly, he reaches the edge, and through his watery vision, can spot Piccolo and Vegeta, both unmoving in the middle of the hole. His entire body is now shivering as he starts to walk down and rushes to his mentor, unable to stop the tears from falling down anymore.

“Mister… Mister Pi-Piccolo ! Mister Piccolo !”

He hugs his friend and mentor tightly, uncaring of the purple blood staining him in the process. He sobs for what feels like hours, praying to Kami, again and again, for it all to just be a nightmare. It can't be real. It can’t be. He had already lost his dad sooner in the year from that awful heart disease - that had killed him so slowly, so painfully - and he couldn’t even bring him back since it was considered a natural death. And now Piccolo… 

They can't bring back anyone anymore : without him, the dragon balls are unusable. He starts sobbing harder at the terrible realization. 

Then, he hears something. He freezes at the noise coming from behind him, quickly standing up and turning around, and getting in his fighting stance, only to find nothing. He looks around, sure that he had heard something when his eyes stop on Vegeta, widening as he spots the tiniest movement in his chest. Gohan runs towards him, almost tripping several times on the way, and falling to his knees as he reaches the injured man. His breath gets stuck in his throat as he takes in the amount of damage the Saiyan had taken. 

His right arm and leg are completely gone, most of his right side is burned all the way to the muscles, and he can see a part of his jaw bone.

He can feel his stomach contract at the sight, making him feel sick, and he is sure he had imagined the movement until Vegeta opens his eyes, making him jump back with a sharp cry. He reacts quickly and checks his pockets for a senzu bean before remembering they had already used them all sooner in the fight. His breath is heavy as he leans down again, half-amazed and half-horrified that the older warrior is still alive despite the deadly extent of his injuries. Are Saiyans really that resistant ? He isn't sure he wants to find out if he is too.

"Mister... Mister Vegeta ?"

Vegeta's breath is laborious and he seems to have a hard time even keeping his eyes open, but despite that he succeeds in motioning him closer with his remaining hand. Gohan bends over more, doing his best to not look at the horrendous sight before him as he sorely focuses on listening to what the man has to say.

"G-g- t- B-Bu- ma…" _Get Bulma._

His eyes widen at the words and he quickly nods, hurrying to get up and ignoring the flash of pain in his arms as he does so.

"I'll go get her. Just... try staying awake." He takes off in the air, giving a last glance to the destroyed battlefield before turning around, swallowing the tears trying to fall again, and hurrying towards Bulma's hideout. 

It takes him longer than he would have hoped, but after a dozen minutes, he finally arrives at the hidden bunker, under Capsule Corp. He doesn't waste any time, just enough to check his surroundings, in case the murderous duo decided to come back, before rushing inside, making sure to announce his presence loudly so as to not get shot.   
It doesn't take him long to find Bulma as she is waiting near the entrance, baby Trunks in her arms, surely waiting for them to come back. She frowns when she sees him arrive alone. She tries to look behind him, but doesn't get the chance as he closes the door behind him.

"Gohan ? Where is everyone else ?"

He shakes his head, not wanting to say it out loud. It would only make it real. "No time. Vegeta needs medical attention. Now." 

She blinks, quickly getting herself in the action as she gives him the baby, unaware of his own injured arm, and rushes to the infirmary, telling him to wait for her. She comes back with a single capsule, throwing it as soon as she gets out of the bunker. Gohan follows her into what seems to be a medical ship and puts Trunks in a crib on the side of the main room before getting the stretcher ready under Bulma's instructions. 

Thanks to the technologically advanced ship, it doesn't take them long to arrive at destination, and Gohan feels himself getting sick again as he hears the scientist gasp at the sight of the demolished city before them. He avoids her horrified expression and points in the direction of the crater, swallowing his tears again as she lands nearby. He goes to stand on the side of the door, waiting for her orders, and watches from afar as she rushes to Vegeta, dropping to her knees next to him.

He starts to turn away, trying to leave them a minimum intimacy, but Bulma yells at him to roll the stretcher to her. He throws a quick glance at Trunks, making sure he is doing fine, before lowering the medical bed and bringing it outside. He tries helping her lift the injured man into it, but his broken arm makes it harder than he would have thought. He takes a deep breath to calm down, reminding himself that it is nothing to what Vegeta is surely feeling right now as he looks at the stubborn man being yelled at for trying to move.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” 

Despite his awful state, he succeeds in letting out a small laugh at his - girlfriend’s ? - reprimand before relaxing his body as much as he can.

Gohan can’t help but be in awe in front of so much determination, it’s obvious Vegeta is not going to let himself die here. No matter how painful it must be to even breath, he doesn’t give up for even a second. Seeing that, Gohan shakes his head and forgets the lancing pain in his arms to help Bulma in her task. After a bit more struggle, they finally succeed and roll the bed back to the ship. Once there, Bulma starts working on saving Vegeta’s life, muttering to herself different possible solutions.

Gohan, feeling like he would just bother her if he stayed too close, decides to go get the bodies of their fallen friends, so they can give them all a proper burial later. He makes sure to warn Bulma beforehand, and to check on Trunks again, the boy having fallen asleep, his purple tail swiping around him as he dreams, as if nothing was happening. He wishes he could be this carefree. He slowly makes his way to his mentor, a sob getting out as he sees him again. He secures the taller man in his arms and flies back to the ship, laying him down in the back room and covering him up with one of the sheets he found in the drawers. He does the same for the 4 other fighters.

By the time he finishes, his entire body is shivering and tears are streaming down his face. He closes the main door, making sure no one is coming for them, and goes back to check on Bulma.

She looks up when he enters the room, her own eyes red and puffy and her voice rough as she speaks. “Can you monitor him the time I get us back to Capsule Corp ?”

He nods, not finding the strength to talk anymore, and goes to sit on the chair next to the bloody stretcher.

The trip back is silent, making Gohan's skin crawl. His eyes stay fixed onto the heart monitor, his fingers tapping in rhythm with the steady noise it makes. 

His mind goes blank and the next thing he is aware of is Bulma's hand on his shoulder as she looks down at him with a frown.

"Can you take Trunks and follow me ?" 

He nods, getting up and walking towards the crib, ignoring the worried look on the scientist's face as she watches him. He observes the baby, now fully awake, and again, feels a sudden tinkle of jealousy at his obliviousness of the current situation. He shakes his head out of the dark thoughts, taking him in his arms and turning back to follow Bulma as she pushes the bed and monitors inside the bunker.

He follows her all the way to her lab, his eyes widening at the sheer size of the room and the multitude of machines displayed all around it. She hurries towards the opposite wall, connecting the injured Saiyan to yet another machine. Gohan feels almost disconnected as he sees her passing a hand into the man’s hair, muttering something that he cannot hear from where he is, before motioning for him to sit on a chair a few meters away. 

He sits, letting her take the baby from him as he stares forward. 

She comes back to him with a set of gauze and creams. "Let me see your arm." 

He lets her wrap his broken arm, wincing slightly when she applies too much strength on it. He feels like crying again. His head turns to where the ship had been parked and Bulma understands his silent question.

"We can bury them later. First, we need to take care of you and Vegeta." She passes a soft hand in his hair, remembering him of his mom for a short moment, and smiles apologetically. 

He only nods, avoiding eye contact and preferring to look at Vegeta behind her. He briefly wonders if she will really be able to save him despite the extent of the injuries, chances are she won’t. It’s already a miracle he is still alive. He glances at her again, seeing her looking at her - boyfriend ? - with a strange determination. She has to know their odds as well as he does, but she isn’t letting it stop her from latching to this tiny string of hope. She stays optimistic, if only for his and Vegeta’s sake.

“There, you’re all done.” He gets out of his trance, looking at his now wrapped arm and back to Bulma, who is putting away the rest of the gauze. “You should go get some sleep.” 

He shakes his head, knowing that if he laid down and tried to sleep, today’s event would come rushing at the front of his mind, and tears would start flooding as the reality of their situation would settle in. Instead, he lifts his knees to his chest, wrapping his uninjured arm around them, and looks at Bulma as she sits down at the workbench and works on some blueprints. She glances at him worriedly but doesn’t say anything. 

He must have fallen asleep soon after that anyway as the next time he opens his eyes, he sees Bulma leaning over her table, snoring quietly. He sits up straight, stretching on the chair before getting up, his body sore from the terrible sleeping position. He quietly makes his way to Bulma, taking a blanket on his way there, and carefully putting it over her. He takes a sneak peek at the blueprints, curious of what she had been working on, and his eyes widen at the multiple sketches of robotic members and organs, all completed with side notes too complicated for him to understand. He guesses she wants to use them to rebuild Vegeta’s mangled body, replacing it with technology. Maybe all hope is not lost. 

His eyes find the wounded Saiyan and he almost jumps back in surprise when he finds him looking back at him. Gohan swallows and slowly approaches him, making sure to not hit anything that could be important on the way. His eyes take him in again, noting that his breathing seems stabilized as he goes to stand on his left side. 

“You… you okay ?” Vegeta’s voice startles him, and he looks down at the question, feeling his eyes watering as he shrugs. “You... d-did good out… out there…” 

He shakes his head, tears streaming down his face. He had failed everyone. They were dead now and he couldn’t do anything against it.

“Y-yeah, you… you did. I… I’ll be d-dead without y-you…” He looks at the man again, seeing him look behind him, at Trunk’s crib, with a strange foreign look in his eyes. Gohan grabs his hand, for both their comfort, getting the other Saiyan’s attention on him again. “Thank… thank y-you for th-that.” 

He tries to answer, but no sound comes from his mouth. He tries again, but to no avail. “Don…don’t t-try t- s-s-peak…”

He tries again anyway and feels stupid at his failure, even more so as Vegeta, in a way worse state than him, succeeds in doing it. He gives up after another failed attempt, laying his head on the bed and accepting the slight comfort brought by the man squeezing his hand almost painfully. 

He stays there, unmoving but not quite asleep, until Bulma stirs awake and catches his attention by rubbing his shoulder.

“How are you feeling ?” He shrugs, not even trying to get words out anymore. He feels defeated, beaten and hopeless.

“Do you want to go take care of our friends ?” 

Her voice is soft and patient, making him conflicted as it reminds him once again of his mom, when she was in a good mood. He nods and rises from his seat, careful as to not wake up Vegeta, and walking towards the ship with a heavy step, followed by Bulma after she checks the sleeping man's vitals again. She stays silent as she helps him move the bodies to where his father had already been buried a few months before and his mother having followed soon after, too heart-broken to keep on with living. They dig the graves, ignoring the smell making them sick and the tears blocking their vision. 

By the time they are done, Gohan falls to his knees on the ground and lets out a long wail. His body is shaking, his breath irregular and he can’t stop the flow of tears coming down his face any longer. He cries, and cries, for what feels like hours, grabbing at Bulma when she comes to hug him tightly. He hides his face in her arms, his sobbing intensifying as she whispers comforting words in his ears. 

When it feels like he can breath again, he sits up straight, looking at the mounts of dirt with a new thought.

Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien Shin Han, Krillin.

Piccolo.

Mom.

Dad.

Their death won’t be in vain.

He won’t let these monsters win.

He will defeat them, with Bulma and Vegeta's help. He’ll make them pay. They’ll make them pay. It doesn’t matter if it takes 1, 10 or 50 years, they will defeat them. He doesn’t hear the strangled gasp next to him as he feels a sudden surge of power flowing through his veins, englobing his body with a golden aura. He looks down at his hand, and the last thought on his mind as he passes out is _Hope_. 


	2. A glimmer of hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Recovery is a long process that requires a lot of patience. Unfortunately, Vegeta is not known to be a patient man.

The next 2 weeks passed by at an agonizingly slow rate. 

After Bulma came back from burying the human fighters, Gohan passed out in her arms, she had put the kid down on an armchair, next to Trunks’s crib, and went back to her desk to work on who knows what.  Vegeta had kept his eyes on the young Saiyan, frowning at his disheveled state, before turning his curious gaze on the woman. 

“What… what y-you working on ?” It hurted to speak, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him.  She had turned to him, a disapproving glare on her face at his continuous refusal to shut up and rest. 

Apparently giving up on making him see reason, she had taken her papers and rolled her chair until she was by his side. “With all the damage you took, I need to build prostheses to replace what you lost and to make sure you don’t need all that -” She did a vague movement to the tubes linking him to diverse machines “-to stay alive.” 

“P-prosthe-tics ?” He had seen the concept several times in his life, some planets being well-versed into that type of technology, but Earth didn't seem that advanced yet. 

She had quickly proved him wrong by showing him her sketches and explaining all the details about what she was planning on doing. He had let her talk, as she obviously needed to vent and release some of the pressure that had been accumulating, even finding himself smiling at her rising enthusiasm. 

When she had finished her ranting, she had looked down at her notes, eyes suddenly filled with worry. “It has never been done before, though. But I think I can make it work.” Determination had taken place when she said that last sentence.

He had nodded, wincing slightly at the sudden pain in his neck at the action. “I t-trust y-you. You… you’re a g-genius…” 

She had looked at him with wide eyes at that, surely not expecting him to ever say that out loud, to her face, before smiling and running a soft hand in his hair. “I won’t let you die.” 

He had smiled and for the first time in his long, tortured life, he had believed someone really cared for him.

She had spent the next two weeks working on it, testing it, recalculating and now, finally, assembling it on him. She is now adjusting the last elements, ignoring his eye-roll as she rechecks everything again. 

Gohan is on his other side, watching them despite his obvious tiredness. He had spent the last weeks taking care of Trunks while Bulma was working, and it really started to wear down on him. He still hasn’t talked once since he had found him in the crater, but Vegeta can’t say he is particularly surprised by that. The kid must be quite traumatized by it all. He vaguely remembers himself, unable to talk for months after his first purge ordered by Frieza. It had taken quite a beating to make him talk again once the tyrant got sick of his continuous silence.

His line of thinking is cut down by the kid giggling next to him, and as he focuses on the present again, he realizes Bulma started yet another round of check-up. He sighs loudly, earning him a deadly familiar glare. “Do you want to die ?” 

“No…”

“Then let me check everything in peace.” 

He is tempted to retort, but is stopped as he sees the frightened look in her eyes. She tries to hide it, but he knows it all too well and decides to let her work without bothering her more. She deserves it after everything she has done for him. 

He stays silent for the rest of the procedure, observing her as she checks her computers and recalculates everything under her breath. 

After a dozen more minutes, she finally stops. She sighs before disconnecting the last cables from his body and turning off the respiratory system. Both her and Gohan look at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. 

"How are you feeling ?" 

He takes a deep breath, happily surprised by the lack of pain following the action. "I can breath better." He blinks at how easy he got his sentence out, a slight smile appearing on his face. "And talk better." 

He tries to sit up but is stopped by Bulma's hand on his chest. He glares at her as he settles back on the bed. "One step at a time, Bad Man. Remember, I never did that before." 

He nods slightly, sharing a knowing look with Gohan as she comes closer to inspect the mechanic on his chest. She grabs his wrist carefully and it takes him a second to realize he can actually feel her touch. She smiles proudly at his amazed look. "Can you move your hand for me ?" 

His brain doesn't register the request, still in shock at the sensation of her hand. He is brought out of it when Gohan grabs his left arm, a worried look painted on his face, making him focus on the current task. 

He tries flexing his hand, releasing a breath he didn't know he had been holding when it moves as he wants. He wraps his fingers around hers, avoiding her bright smile and secretly relishing in the warmth it procures him. “How are you feeling ?”

“Good. It doesn’t hurt too much. I can feel you touching me…” He lifts his eyes to look at her, still amazed by what she accomplished in so little time. She blinks at him, a proud look on her face. 

“Yeah, I installed receptors to try to make it less robotic and foreign. I thought you'd appreciate it.”

“I do.”

She rubs her hand on his arm, squeezing it slightly before sliding it toward the back of his neck. “Come on, let’s try sitting you up.”

He doesn’t have to be told twice, using his left arm for support, he lifts himself up. He feels Gohan helping by supporting his back and he gives him a quick thankful nod. Once he is finally sitting straight, he turns to the side to let his leg dangle from the bed.

Gohan rushes around the furniture to get back to his side as Bulma retrieves her instruments to check his vitals. He flexes his arm more, trying to get accustomed to the new feelings, and stretches a little, his body sore after the long time he spent stuck in one position. “You really are a genius.”

“Were you doubting me ?” Her tone is playful as she places a stethoscope on his chest, listening intently for any sign of trouble. 

“Never.” He had. He had been in such a bad state, it was hard to not doubt her ability to save him. But he wasn't going to tell her that. She had done it.

“Good. Everything seems fine to me.” She puts her instruments back on the workbench, taking off her gloves and looking at Gohan. “Can you get me the wheelchair over there ?” 

He frowns at the strange contraception the kid brings near the bed before glaring at the unbothered woman. “I’m not sitting in that.” 

“Yes, you are. The physical reconstruction may be done, but you’re not healed yet. You need to rest.” 

“I’ve been resting for the last two weeks.” And he’s starting to get sick of it, doing nothing all day really doesn’t suit him, and she knows that. He crosses his arms above his chest, fully intending on winning that argument, but they fall to his side again at her next words.

“Yes, because half your body was destroyed.” Her shaky voice brings him back to reality as he can see all her fears on display. 

His gaze drops to the prosthesis replacing his right leg, grazing his knee as he scoots closer to the edge and grabs Bulma’s shoulder for support. She and Gohan help him stand up, holding him uptight on wobbly legs for a moment before he relents and sits on the strange chair. He almost lets out a huff of relief as pressure leaves his legs, not that he will ever admit it to the two others. 

He relaxes against the back of the chair under the duo's watchful eyes, and he grabs the wheels and gives them an experimental push. At his dejected expression, Bulma passes a hand through his hair, lifting his head to make him look at her as Gohan turns away from them, surely leaving to take care of Trunks and to give them some privacy. 

"I know it's annoying, but bear with it for another couple of days, okay ? For me ?" 

He looks at her, taking in her worried tone and the frown on her features before eventually nodding in agreement. She smiles at him, leaning down to kiss him softly and chuckling at his embarrassed frown. "Thank you." 

It takes exactly 6 days before he can finally ditch the infernal conception. 6 long days of walking exercises and constant testing leaving him sore and annoyed. 

But it's finally over now. Bulma tells him so as she finishes her last calculations and rolls the chair away. “But don’t overdo it, you’re still not fully healed.” 

“Yes, I know.” He rolls his eyes and follows her to the made-up kitchen, enjoying the fact that he could walk there instead of rolling and ignoring the slight pain he feels as he does so. 

He sits at the table next to Gohan, uncaring for the smile that had appeared on his face as he saw him standing up, and digs into the cold food in front of him. The rations they have keeps remembering him of the food back under his time on Frieza’s crew, cold, tasteless and a rubbery feel under the teeth. It had obviously been a new sensation for the two others when they first had to taste it, and almost directly threw it up. 

Now, they were all used to it, the only one having a semblance of real food being Trunks, as he feeds directly on Bulma. 

He looks at Gohan again and feels a foreign pang of guilt at the remembrance that he and Trunks will both have to grow up in this apocalyptic land, and that he was too weak to stop it from happening.

He shakes his head slightly, chasing away the dark thoughts. They don’t have to live like that, he’ll soon be able to train again without the woman yelling at him for it, and with time and effort he’ll get strong enough to destroy the 2 demonic machines. He knows he will. He can’t let the kids grow up like he did, alone and fearful, with only vengeance as fuel. 

With that idea in mind, he finishes the rest of his food in silence, revising the new training schedule he had thought of during his convalescence, to accommodate his new situation. 

When he is done, he gets up to wash his plate, taking the opportunity to enjoy the freedom of walking around again and ignoring Bulma and Gohan amused look at his obvious stratagem. 

He turns around to curse them off when a sudden explosion in a close hallway cuts him mid-sentence. They all three turn to the source of the sound, Bulma and Gohan rising from their seats as Trunks starts crying in his mother’s arms, his tail puffed-up as it swings violently under him. She hurries behind Vegeta, trying to calm the baby with cooing sounds, but to no avail. 

He makes her walk back, until they reach the wall, and signals to Gohan to come next to him. His blood freezes as he hears a disturbing laughter coming from the hallway and he feels the two others shivers behind him. 

He starts powering up, despite knowing he has no actual chance in his current state, but he is stopped by a sudden sharp pain in his entire right side making him fall to his knees. 

He hears Bulma cry out his name as he struggles to get back up, quickly realizing their only chance is to run away. He grabs Gohan by his collar, his surprise at the kid's Super Saiyan state being overshadowed by his urgency to escape, and he pushes him toward the exit. 

His breath comes in short bursts and he grabs onto the woman for support, pulling her with him to the closest usable spaceship. 

They rush to it, closely followed by a soft whistling sound from behind them. Once inside, he pushes Bulma to the command wheel more roughly than he intended, but she doesn’t say anything and grabs the control after securing Trunks into a nearby seat, doing her best to ignore the boy’s scared cries. “Hurry, and stay close to the ground.” 

He sees her nod stiffly at the order before his legs give out and he collapses to the ground, his breathing becoming harder by the second. Gohan runs to him, still in the legendary form, but he quickly dismisses him, pointing toward the open door. “Launch… launch your stronger attack to-toward them and… and close the door as fast as possible.”

He watches as the kid obeys him, hoping it will buy them enough time to escape. Once the door is sealed close, he forces himself back up, gritting his teeth as he makes his way to the front window. He can feel Bulma’s worried glances but he ignores it in favor of searching for a temporary hideout. “Don’t go too… too high, if they s-see us we’re dead.” 

With both his and Gohan’s Ki hidden, the 2 robots shouldn’t be able to find them for some time, that is if they were disoriented enough by the boy’s Kamehameha. 

After a few more minutes, when it seems they aren’t being followed, he notices a semi-collapsed subway entrance and he quickly motions to it. “There.” 

The woman nods, before carefully parking the small ship near the location. They hurry out of it, Bulma helping him to walk as Gohan takes the now semi-calmed baby and encapsulates their vehicle. Vegeta throws a worried glance toward Capsule Corp as another explosion reaches their ears and he rushes the group inside. 

Once they are relatively safe, with a roof above their head and no murder robots coming after them, Vegeta collapses to the ground again, wincing at the painful throbbing in the right side of his body. He is quickly joined by Bulma as the kid keeps guard at the entrance of the subway station. She passes a soft hand in his hair, muttering comfort words as she pulls him in her chest with her free arm, the other still holding onto a whimpering Trunks. 

He loses track of time as he solely focuses on his breathing, waiting for the pain to subdue. Once it feels like he can move again, he leaves Bulma’s grasp, sitting up straight with a hiss and quickly noticing Gohan by his side with Trunks in his arms. 

Bulma keeps her hand on his left shoulder, stroking it slightly and looking at him with wide frightened eyes. “Are you okay ?”

“Better…” He shrugs, immediately regretting the action as another flash of pain makes him wince. 

“What happened ?” 

“I don’t know… I tried powering up and it was like my body suddenly burned and I couldn't breathe anymore.” 

He extends his leg to try to relieve some of the pressure put on it and lifts his right hand to his face, frowning as he realizes moving the members worsens the problem. She carefully takes the mechanical limb, observing it for any visible damage. "Was it specifically the prostheses or your entire body ?"

She gets a small capsule out, making some of her tools pop out to examine the machine more closely as she waits for his answer.

"It started with the prostheses, but it quickly reached the rest." 

She stays silent as she checks everything and he shares a worried look with Gohan when she starts cursing under her breath. "What is it ?" 

She sighs, recapsuling her instruments and passing a hand through her hair, a sign he learned to recognize as her being nervous. "I need to run more tests to be sure, but…" 

"But what ?" 

She locks eyes with him, looking apologetic. "I think they're not compatible with Ki, and using it caused a big malfunction in the system…" 

"What ?"

"And since it's what's keeping you alive… That's not good." 

His breath is cut short as he realizes what she is trying to say and he can feel Gohan squeeze his left arm as he comes to the same conclusion. "So, what you're saying is that…"

"If you use Ki, you'll die."

And just like that, it's like his whole world crumbles all over again. How is he supposed to fight and protect her and the kids if he can't use his powers ? Maybe she is wrong, maybe it's just a coincidence. It has to be… 

"You - you said you needed more tests… Maybe - maybe it's something else…" 

"It's really unlikely." She looks down, now avoiding his eyes and playing with the hem of her shirt. "I'm sorry." 

"But - but you can do something about it, r-right ? You're a genius, you… you can find a way ?" In any other circumstances, he would be ashamed to sound so desperate, but he can't find it in himself to care at the moment. Even less when she still won't look at him.

"I can't promise anything…" Her voice is low, and when she finally catches his eyes again, she looks sad and sorry. "I'll try, of course. But you shouldn't put all your hopes on it." 

"Why not ?"

"Because it's connected to your heart, and your lungs and it's the only thing keeping you alive."

Her voice rises and her hands are shaky, making Vegeta understand the unsaid words :  _ I'm scared, I don't want to lose you _ . 

He sighs and looks at Gohan again, who is still shaken by the previous events, and at Trunks who is whimpering in the boy’s arms because of all the disturbances. 

"Okay." She frowns and he takes her hand in his, linking their fingers together in a rare show of affection, that he feels is necessary right now. "I understand." 

"I'm so sorry." She throws herself on him, circling his neck with her arms and hiding her face in his neck.

He breathes in her hair, hesitantly sliding an arm around her waist. He stops Gohan as he starts to leave, which results in the boy grabbing his side tightly, tears running down his face as the stress of the day finally washes over him. 

"It's okay, we're gonna make it work." 

“How ?” Her voice is rough from all the crying and she wipes the tears off her face as she sits straighter against him, careful as to not apply pressure onto his right side. 

He thinks about it for a moment, his mind rushing to find a working plan for their situation. Thankfully, he has a lot of experience with surviving into a terrible and nightmarish environment, and his habit of quick planning is coming in handy. 

“First, we need to settle a new base. A temporary one, we can’t stay in one place too long. And it has to be easy and fast to assemble and disassemble it.”

Gohan retrieves the ship’s capsule in his pocket, flashing it to the two adults, a questioning look on his face. Bulma smiles warmly and reaches for it, examining it. “It should be enough. It’s not too big and it has a lot of supplies.” 

He nods, agreeing with them before continuing. “We also need to install a surveillance system, so we won’t be caught short like that again. We can’t afford it a second time.”

She nods along his words and retrieves a small notepad she had in her jacket, writing down his instructions and already drawing the outline of the needed technology. He turns reluctantly toward Gohan for the next part, angry that he has to rely on the kid to do this. 

“And you need to train. I saw you’ve reached Super Saiyan ?” The boy nods hesitantly and Bulma starts shaking her head again, ready to argue but he cuts her off. “That’s good, because you’re the only one who can fight and you need to be way stronger than you are right now if we want to survive.” 

“You can’t put that on him ! He’s 9 years old !” Bulma screeches near his ear, making all 3 Saiyans wince at the sound, Trunks starting to cry again. 

“I know.” He shakes his head, putting a hand on Gohan’s shoulder, the kid looks at him with wide eyes and for a brief moment he sees himself, looking at his father as he is told he'll be given to Frieza's army. Now he knows how his father felt that day. He wishes he didn’t. “And I hate that I have to, but I have no other choice.” 

The boy nods, determination filling his eyes, and Bulma stays silent, as much as she wants to argue, she knows he is right. He decides now is as good as a time as ever and starts to work his way back to a standing position. “Come on, we need to get further down before setting up camp.” 


End file.
